Malaria cases and deaths are increasing in Zimbabwe, exposing fragile health systems and creating growing treatment shortages in rural areas. In eastern Zimbabwe, a woman and her five-year-old son developed fever, headache, and joint pain, then tested positive for malaria after seeking help from a village health worker. They recovered after receiving medication. The surge follows US foreign aid cuts after a return to office in 2025, including reductions to programmes supported by USAID. In Zimbabwe, malaria research, prevention, and treatment initiatives were disrupted, including ZENTO at Africa University and ZAPIM II, which supported diagnosis, treatment, and prevention in high-burden districts. Malaria cases rose sharply in early 2026 compared with prior years, based on weekly surveillance reporting.
"Their ordeal comes as malaria cases and deaths surge across Zimbabwe after US funding cuts disrupted key malaria control programmes. Shortly after returning to office for a second term in 2025, US President Donald Trump slashed foreign aid funding, including programmes backed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In Zimbabwe, the cuts disrupted tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria research, prevention and treatment programmes."
"Both tested positive for malaria. I felt relieved, Mvundura told Al Jazeera. From the moment I took that medication, I started getting better. Her son has also recovered and is back in school. Their ordeal comes as malaria cases and deaths surge across Zimbabwe after US funding cuts disrupted key malaria control programmes."
"Among the affected initiatives were the Zimbabwe Entomological Support Programme in Malaria (ZENTO) at Africa University in Mutare, which provided scientific research to support the country's National Malaria Control Programme, and the Zimbabwe Assistance Programme in Malaria II (ZAPIM II), which helped strengthen malaria diagnosis, treatment and prevention in high-burden districts. USAID had disbursed $270m for health and agriculture programmes in Zimbabwe in 2024."
"Malaria cases jumped to 65,399 between January and April 2026, up from 36,000 recorded during the same period in 2025 and 17,000 in 2024, according to Zimbabwe's Ministry of Health National Malaria Control Programme weekly surveillance report. Deaths have also risen sha"
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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